We all know I love follow up and so does my friend Jen Mueller. Jen is a Seattle Seahawks Sideline Reporter and runs Talk Sporty to Me, where she helps you weave sports into every day business conversations. In this week’s guest post I am excited for Jen to share her follow up game plan…

If you were to follow me inside an NFL locker room during the Seahawks weekly media availability you’d notice a couple things. First, it doesn’t look like I’m doing much of anything and secondly, my conversations aren’t as football driven as you’d expect.

Which is exactly how I planned it.

And I do, quite literally, plan out my interactions with the athletes. I’m strategic in the way I approach building relationships to reach best-case scenarios.

Here’s what happens

I start with a “3 Player Max” rule.” As in, I’m not going to try and meet 10 or even five new players at a time. This is the time to be narrow-minded and focus on two, no more than three, people at a time, because the moment I meet those new players I initiate a follow up sequence that follows this timeline.

Make contact within 24-48 Hours. Maximize the initial introduction by having a second point of contact within two days. For me, that could be as simple as a head-nod or a smile in their direction in the locker room. It could be saying “Hi,” as I pass a guy walking through the locker room. It’s a casual exchange, but one that reinforces our initial meeting.

First name exchange within 5-7 days. Get on a first-name basis within a week of the initial introduction. I not only want to stay on a player’s radar, but demonstrate that I’m paying attention. My first-name exchanges sometimes sound like this, “Heck of a catch in practice Tyler.” Or “Justin, I meant to tell you after the game, but that was a great play on third down.” Or “You’re playing my kind of music today Doug!” Adding their first-name to an exchange personalizes the conversation, and helps develop the relationship.

Talk expertise within 10-14 days. Tap into expert opinions and perspective within two weeks of making the introduction. There’s a reason I introduced myself in the first place. Now that I’ve developed a baseline for the relationship, I’ll initiate football-related conversations. Sometimes that’s actually walking up to a player after the game and asking for a post-game interview. Other times, it’s having a mid-week conversation with a player about what I should be looking for in a specific matchup.

Keep ‘em in the loop. Once the relationship is established look for ways to stay connected. Players need to know I care about them on Wednesday, as much as I do on game day. This is another way of saying, don’t be one of those people who only calls, emails, texts or writes when you need something. Maintain relationships that put people first.

The relationships I develop with athletes aren’t much different from the relationships I develop with colleagues and business clients. The conversation topics differ, and the meeting rooms I’m in smell much better than an NFL locker room after a game, but the overall conversation and follow up strategies are the same.

Here’s how it works for you

Identify two or three people you want to connect with. They could be folks you meet at a networking event, an industry conference or perhaps they’re already in your office building. Develop a follow up plan based on the timeline above. Include ways to show up within two days, one week and two weeks along with topics you want to discuss (i.e. their expertise) and subjects you’ve already talked about that can be used as conversation starters.

Oh, and one more thing, don’t wait to put your follow up plan in place. I never know when a player is going to make the biggest play of the game and become my target for a walk-off post-game interview. It’s one of the reasons I’m consistently following up and maintaining relationships throughout the season.

You don’t know who holds the keys to your next biggest opportunity, until you commit to your own follow up strategy.

Sign up for Jen’s fantastic weekly Conversation Starters with a quick recap of the weekend sports news you need to know. AND grab her latest book, The Influential Conversationalist!